Tank foot



March 8, 1949.

E. M. DETERS TANK FOOT i'led April 8, 1946 Patented Mar. 8, 1949 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE TANK FOOT Elmer M. Deters, Davenport, Iowa,assignor to Red Jacket Manufacturing Co., Davenport, Iowa, a corporationof Iowa Application April 8, 1946, Serial No. 660,560

7 Claims.-

`formed thereon, (b) cylindrical members having a series of stepsarranged in helical succession, that is, at different levels but at thesame distance from the center, and (c) multi-piece members having two ormore wedge-shaped elements `slidable upon one another to provide aninnite range of adjustment. None of these have been entirelysatisfactory for this purpose in that the longitudinal wedge type andthe cylindrical type have both been too bulky for the range of heightadjustments provided; and the multi-piece type has been expensive due tothe manufacturing, assembling, and packaging problems presented in atwo-piece construction.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide agenerally circular-shaped tank foot which will take the form of a singlepiece but which will provide a wide range of support heights approachingthat of the multi-piece type above described.

The present invention may be regarded as an improvement over theabove-mentioned one-piece cylindrical type in the respect that the stepsare arranged in a spiral succession rather than in a helical succession,whereby more than twice the number of steps and hence more than twicethe adjustment range is provided in a foot of a given diameter andheight.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription in which reference is made to the accompanying drawingillustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention and whereinsimiliar reference characters designate similar parts throughout thefigures.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a tcp View of a tank supported by three of the feet whichare the subject of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevational view of Figure l taken on the line2--2;

Fig. 3 is a partial sectional view of Fig. 2 taken 2 on the line 3 3 andshows a top view of one of the tank feet;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of the parts shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the tank foot or support'showing moreclearly the spiral succession of the steps, and

Fig. 6 is a view of a modified form of the invention.

The invention is illustrated as it may be used with a tank generallydesignated 2| formed of a tubular upstanding portion 22 and an inverteddomed bottom 23. Modifications within the scope of this invention areequally applicable to many other types of tanks, for example, squaretanks with flat bottoms; such modications are not specificallyillustrated in the drawings inasmuch as it is believed that they will beevident to those skilled in the art.

The supporting device or foot generally designated 24 may be formed of asingle piece, for example, of cast iron. A series of steps 26 ascendalong the top outer surface in a spiral succession, that is, eachsucceeding step is at a higher level and closer to the center line A-A(Fig. 4) than the preceding step. The steps terminate in a flat toppedcentral axial extension 21 whichY also Amay be used as a supportingsurface if desired.

In the Fig. 3 and 4 embodiment the successive steps 26 will be spaced atabout 90 around the axis A-A; other embodiments may utilize differentangular spacing and in some cases it may be desirable to vary theangular spacing of successive steps at different levels so that allsteps may be substantially the same length. For example, it may be founddesirable to space the upper steps at approximately and the lower stepsat approximately 45, thereby increasing the range of adjustment heightavailable.

The individual steps 26 may be inclined upward and outward `at asuitable angle t0 more postively engage the depending skirt portion 25of the tank as shown in Fig. 4. Highly satisfactory results have beenexperienced where the inclination of the step surface with respect to avertical plane, that is the angle B in Fig. 4, is in the range between 5and 15. This inclination of the step surface is. not essential however,as satisfactory results have also been experienced with horizontal stepsand in some cases, as for instance, with flat bottomed tanks having noequivalent of the skirted portion 25, horizontal steps may even bepreferred for flatwise engagement with the tank bottom.

Another modification of this invention is shown in Fig. 6 where thesupporting height is made infinitely variable, within limits of the topand bottom of the foot, by providing a single spiral surface 28 in placeof the spiral succession of individual steps 2G as shown in the previousgures. And, as previously explained in connection with the Fig. 4modification, the outer edge of the surface 28 may or may not be higherthan the inner edge. Y

It is believed that the use and operation of this device will beapparent from the foregoing. On round tanks, as illustrated, -a group ofthree tank feet will usually be suicient toprovide the requiredstability, and on rectangular or -square tanks four or more feet may berequired. In use, the tank will be temporarily -supported as by means ofblocks or jacks to the level position desired, and the tank feet 24 theninserted beneath the tank edge and rotated until a suitable supportingsurface 26 `(or a suitable part of the spira1 surface 28 in the Fig. 6modification) is level with the correspondingportion of the tank bottom.Then the temporary support will be removed and the full Weight of thetank allowed to rest upon the set of feet. The problem of leveling atank in this manner is commonly presented when installation ismade on afloor pitched to a drain, as that shown in Fig. 2.

I-claim: l 4 Y" 1. A supporting foot for a tank or the like comprising-a body having formed thereon a series of steps arranged in spiralsuccession about an axis of the body, said steps being spaced axially ofthe body anddisposed, at progressively greater radial distances from theaxis ofthe body from the top to the bottom, of the body.

2. A supporting foot for a tank or the like comprising avbody havingformed thereon a series of steps spiraled around thefcenter of the bodyand arranged at different levels and different distances from thecenter-thereof.v

vr3, A supporting .foot for atank or the like cornan vof thewbody, saidsteps being disposed at progressively greater Vradial distances hfromthe 4 central axis of the body from the top to the bottom of the body.

4. A supporting foot for a tank or the like comprising a solid bodyhaving formed thereon a series of steps arranged in spiral successionabout the axis of the body, said steps being disposed at progressivelygreater radial distances from the center axis of the body in a directionextending from the top to the bottom of the body, the outer portion ofeach of said steps being at a higher level than the inner portion.

5. A supporting foot for a tank or the like comprising a rigid bodyxhaving formed thereon a series'ofsteps spiraled around the center of thebody and progressively arranged at different levels and differentdistances from the center thereof, each of said steps being pitchedupwardly and-outwardly at an angle of 5 to 15 with respect to ahorizontal plane.

6.-A supporting foot for a tank or the like comprising a solid rigidbody having formed thereon a spirally ascending upwardly facingsurf-ace, said surface being progressively radially closer to the axisof said body in a direction from the bottom to the top of the body.`

'7. A supporting foot for a tank or the like comprising a body havingformed thereon a spirally extending upwardly facing surface, saidsurface being at progressively greater radial distances from the centralaxis of the body from the top to the bottom, said surface being soformed that at a radial cross-section through a vertical plane the outerportion will be at a higher level than the inner portion. i

ELMER M. DETERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 338,667 Hornbostet Mar. 23, 18861,268,245 Hoiland June 4, 1918 1,725,499A Wetzel Aug'. 20, 19291,915,320 Jones June 27, 1933 1,973,948 Fogelstrom Sept. 18, 1934

